PSYCH 403 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 100% CORRECT
Psychology Triad - answer 3 essential topics of psych; how people think, feel, and
behave
Personality - answer An individual's characteristic pattern of thought, emotion, and
behavior
The whole person - answer How all other areas of psychology come together
Basic approach or paradigm - answer A theoretical view of personality that focuses on
some phenomena and ignores others
Trait approach - answer -focuses on individuals differences in personality and behavior
and the psychological processes behind them
-This is the largest and most dominant approach b/c individual differences are central to
most everything
- focuses on how "every man is in certain respects like some other men"
Biological approach - answer Focuses on the way behavior and personality are
influenced in terms of the body
Psychoanalytic approach - answer Focuses on the unconscious mind and internal
mental conflict (Freud)
Phenomenological approach - answer Focuses on people's conscious experience of the
world
-Emphasizes experience, free will, and the meaning of life
Humanistic psychology - answer A type of phenomenological approach
HOW conscious awareness produces uniquely human attributes (like creativity, free
will, and existential anxiety); understand meaning and basis of happiness
Cross-cultural personality research - answer Type of phenomenological approach
emphasizes how the experience of reality might be different across cultures
Learning and cognitive approaches - answer How people change their behaviors as a
result of rewards, punishments, and life experiences
-Behaviorism, social learning theory, cognitive personality psychology
Social Learning Theory - answer How observation and self-evaluation determine
,behavior
Classic behaviorism - answer Focuses on overt behaviors
Cognitive personality - answer Focuses on cognitive processes, including perception,
memory, and thought
One Big Theory (OBT) - answer Explains everything about personality
It's too difficult to do everything well
Funder's First Law - answer Great strengths are usually great weaknesses, and
surprisingly often the opposite is true as well
There is no one real answer!
Advantages of accounting for the whole person and real-life concerns - answer It is
inclusive, interesting, and important
Disadvantages of accounting for the whole person and real-life concerns - answer
Over-inclusiveness or unfocused research
Advantages of basic approaches - answer Good at addressing certain topics
Disadvantages of basic approaches - answer Poor at addressing other topics or ignores
them
Pigeonholing vs. Appreciation of Individual Differences - answer Negative: Pigeonholing
(an idea is too exclusive or "labeling"; some people are uncomfy with being categorized
b/c they find it to be undignified and/or implausible)
Positive: leads to sensitivity and respect for individual differences
What is the goal of research in this field? - answer To continuously improve on tentative
answer to questions
, Research - answer Exploration of the unknown
SILB - answer Clues that we gather to determine one's personality
Ideally, we use as many clues as we can
Funder's Second Law - answer There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are
only clues, and clues are always ambiguous
Funder's Third Law - answer Something beats nothing, two times out of three
S data - answer -Self-reports
-Usually questionnaires or surveys, most frequent
-High face validity
-Often matches I data
Advantages of S data - answer 1. large amount of information
2. access to thoughts, feelings, and emotions
3. some S data are true by definition (self-esteem, etc)
4. Causal force (have a way of creating own reality)
5. Simple and easy
Face validity - answer The degree to which respondents can tell what the items are
measuring
Self-verification - answer When people try to bring others to treat them in a manner that
confirms their self-conceptions (ex. of causal force of S data) (if you think you are smart,
you make an extra effort to make other people think you're smart)
Fish-and-water effect - answer People may be so used to the way they characteristically
ANSWERS 100% CORRECT
Psychology Triad - answer 3 essential topics of psych; how people think, feel, and
behave
Personality - answer An individual's characteristic pattern of thought, emotion, and
behavior
The whole person - answer How all other areas of psychology come together
Basic approach or paradigm - answer A theoretical view of personality that focuses on
some phenomena and ignores others
Trait approach - answer -focuses on individuals differences in personality and behavior
and the psychological processes behind them
-This is the largest and most dominant approach b/c individual differences are central to
most everything
- focuses on how "every man is in certain respects like some other men"
Biological approach - answer Focuses on the way behavior and personality are
influenced in terms of the body
Psychoanalytic approach - answer Focuses on the unconscious mind and internal
mental conflict (Freud)
Phenomenological approach - answer Focuses on people's conscious experience of the
world
-Emphasizes experience, free will, and the meaning of life
Humanistic psychology - answer A type of phenomenological approach
HOW conscious awareness produces uniquely human attributes (like creativity, free
will, and existential anxiety); understand meaning and basis of happiness
Cross-cultural personality research - answer Type of phenomenological approach
emphasizes how the experience of reality might be different across cultures
Learning and cognitive approaches - answer How people change their behaviors as a
result of rewards, punishments, and life experiences
-Behaviorism, social learning theory, cognitive personality psychology
Social Learning Theory - answer How observation and self-evaluation determine
,behavior
Classic behaviorism - answer Focuses on overt behaviors
Cognitive personality - answer Focuses on cognitive processes, including perception,
memory, and thought
One Big Theory (OBT) - answer Explains everything about personality
It's too difficult to do everything well
Funder's First Law - answer Great strengths are usually great weaknesses, and
surprisingly often the opposite is true as well
There is no one real answer!
Advantages of accounting for the whole person and real-life concerns - answer It is
inclusive, interesting, and important
Disadvantages of accounting for the whole person and real-life concerns - answer
Over-inclusiveness or unfocused research
Advantages of basic approaches - answer Good at addressing certain topics
Disadvantages of basic approaches - answer Poor at addressing other topics or ignores
them
Pigeonholing vs. Appreciation of Individual Differences - answer Negative: Pigeonholing
(an idea is too exclusive or "labeling"; some people are uncomfy with being categorized
b/c they find it to be undignified and/or implausible)
Positive: leads to sensitivity and respect for individual differences
What is the goal of research in this field? - answer To continuously improve on tentative
answer to questions
, Research - answer Exploration of the unknown
SILB - answer Clues that we gather to determine one's personality
Ideally, we use as many clues as we can
Funder's Second Law - answer There are no perfect indicators of personality; there are
only clues, and clues are always ambiguous
Funder's Third Law - answer Something beats nothing, two times out of three
S data - answer -Self-reports
-Usually questionnaires or surveys, most frequent
-High face validity
-Often matches I data
Advantages of S data - answer 1. large amount of information
2. access to thoughts, feelings, and emotions
3. some S data are true by definition (self-esteem, etc)
4. Causal force (have a way of creating own reality)
5. Simple and easy
Face validity - answer The degree to which respondents can tell what the items are
measuring
Self-verification - answer When people try to bring others to treat them in a manner that
confirms their self-conceptions (ex. of causal force of S data) (if you think you are smart,
you make an extra effort to make other people think you're smart)
Fish-and-water effect - answer People may be so used to the way they characteristically
